


Tapes

by DailyDaves



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-25
Updated: 2015-01-25
Packaged: 2018-03-08 23:47:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3228038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DailyDaves/pseuds/DailyDaves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryan Haywood is the head special effects director who likes to people watch. Gavin Free is a slow-motion cinematographer with a problem and a need for affection. This is how they meet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tapes

**Author's Note:**

> Prompted! I kinda wanna write more of this universe tbh

It was a regular day on-set.

Unfortunately, unlike the rest of the people on his team, Ryan Haywood had to actually be _on set_. Not post. Oh no, not the head special effects team director. Everyone else got to fuck off and come in only when shooting was done, but not Ryan Haywood. As a (probably) wise king had once said, with great power came great responsibility. Except that most likely a shitty movie quote. But Ryan could pretend like it was some wise, dead asshole who said it.

All that being said, it was a regular day on set. Mostly. Except there was some idiot running around, trying to get the attention of anyone who would listen to him. And most people took one look at him and wouldn’t give him the time of day.

The idiot’s name was Gavin Free, and he wasn’t _really_ an idiot. Ryan didn’t quite know what he was yelling about, but it had to be something important, from the way he was going at it. He was actually a pretty important person, and Ryan had spent quite a bit of time watching him. He didn’t have a lot else to do—most of his work was done in post-production, not during filming. He was the head special effects and buddy-buddy with the director and head editor; he had next to nothing to do but watch during this stage. And if Ryan was good at anything, it was watching people.

Gavin had become the person of Ryan’s interest due to the swirling rumors about him. Blockbuster productions worked a lot like high schools. People gossiped. Word got around fast. Judgments were made at first sight. There were cliques. Ryan mostly kept to himself, but he was a man with curiosity, and sometimes that curiosity got to him and he would eavesdrop on conversations.

Gavin was the head of the slow motion cinematography team. He was the director of slow motion photography and knew anything and everything about the ins and outs of the Phantom. He worked harder than anyone Ryan saw on set, sticking to the ‘don’t sit’ rule, even when production pushed him into double and triple overtimes. But none of that was why he was the center of gossip. Word had it that he was only twenty-one.

Cinematography wasn’t a profession that saw a lot of twenty year-olds in it. It was a hard field and most cinematographers had multiple degrees to show. It was definitely odd to see someone as young as Gavin in it. Odd and interesting, especially with the kid’s work ethic. He was good at what he did, too, as Ryan had looked up some of his work.

It was a regular day on set, for the most part. People were buzzing about, actors talking to each other, the close-knit directors, writers, and editors in their usual afternoon huddle, where Ryan definitely should’ve been. Instead, he was paying attention to the scruffy British kid, who was getting nearer and nearer, and to whom no one seemed to be listening to.

He was out of breath, panic-stricken, eyes wide and bristling, and pretty soon, he was right in front of Ryan, breathing hard and looking as though he was close to tears.

“What the hell happened to you?” Was all Ryan could manage, cocking an eyebrow. Gavin jumped, looking right at him, mouth falling open and unintelligible sounds coming out.

“I—I—Someone messed with my footage!”

\--

“I just—couldn’t believe you were talking to me.”

Gavin let out a nervous laugh, hand shaking as he stirred his drink. He looked at the bar in front of them, green eyes downcast. The bags under his eyes were more pronounced than Ryan had remembered when he’d studied him during production. They were dark and pronounced, leaving Ryan to wonder if he was getting any sleep at all.

“Why’s that?” Ryan asked, leaning in a bit. The bar was loud around them. Ryan had offered to take a still very panic-stricken Gavin out for drinks, since he was clearly all over the place, and for a good reason, too. He’d learned that someone—from the sounds of it, one of Gavin’s older underlings—has screwed with his footage, all but destroying it and leaving Gavin with the tempered tapes. He’d been yelled at for it today, screamed at by the technical director, and Gavin hadn’t had an explanation for it, and no one had believed his claims of tampering.

“I dunno,” Gavin drummed his fingers against his glass, tapping his nails on it rhythmically with the heartbeat of noise around them. “No one ever listens to me. I’m too young.”

“That’s bullshit,” Ryan commented, humming. “Not you, I mean. It’s shit that no one listens to you. You’re one of the smartest people on set.”

“Thanks,” It was murmured, quiet and almost-whispered. It didn’t escape Ryan that his cheeks were tinged red, either out of embarrassment or happiness. Either way, he seemed appreciative of the compliment, which really, just made Ryan feel for him even more. Gavin turned his head, his eyes flicking up to meet Ryan’s before switching quickly away again, “I wish other people would listen to me. Everyone on my team is older than me. They’re all mad that I’m their supervisor. They don’t take me seriously. No one does. Except you. Maybe.”

“Yeah,” Ryan nodded, confirming it for Gavin. “I’ll listen to you.”

“Thank you,” There it was again—that little tinge on his cheeks. “Sorry about earlier. I was kinda all over the place. You’re pretty solid, though. I like you, Ryan.”

“Solid? Is that British slang for something?”

Gavin frowned, narrowing his eyes at him in a playful way, “It’s like ‘cool’, idiot.”

\--

Gavin ended up spending the night at his hotel room.

Nothing happened between them, nothing but Gavin getting a little handsy on the way back. Ryan had two beds in his room and Gavin started out on the opposite bed, but somehow ended up with Ryan. Gavin had drank a little much and all-but passed out when they got back.

He didn’t wake Gavin up in the morning, instead setting the alarm for him and setting up a cab for him to go to production.

Things were picking up a little. Production was starting to close off and post would start within the next week. He didn’t see Gavin until much, much later, when Gavin had flashed him a brilliant smile and gone back to his work.

And it wasn’t until even later than that when he got the text from Gavin.

_You fixed my tapes, you sly genius bugger! I’ll take you out on that dinner date offer, if it’s still open._

_\--Gavin_


End file.
